Sunday, March 30, 2014

Keep on Keepin On, as Bob Dylan used to say. I've just completed week two of the Squidoo Challenge. It has been a little difficult for me, because I had only intended to do Squidoo as a side dealy to help promote all of my other arty stuff.

I did finally achieve my goal of graduating from the Rocket Squids, and don't you know, I was immediately inducted into the Giant Squids. I am very proud of that, so it kind of re-invigorated my drive to continue writing articles. Keeping myself going at two-per week for the time being. I'll keep this up for at least a little while longer.

That being said, let me tell you about the two articles I wrote this week. The first was about my all time favorite anime movie. It's called Akira, Messiah or Nothing? The article poses the question of the main character Tetsuo, who is weak in a time of terrible distress and corruption. He's a protagonist and a villain in many regards, who's been given a gift, and when he tries to use it, so many things blow up, it's unimaginable. Akira is a landmark piece of anime, and if you've never seen it, you should definitely check it out.

Bad To the Boneworld Hot Wings

The second article, I wrote this past week, was on my Bad To the Boneworld Hot Wing recipe. You see, I love me some hot wings, I mean real hot, but the cost of ordering out all the time can add up, so I came up with this simple recipe that anyone can handle. I'm talking real simple. I'm no cook. In fact, anything that involves more than the microwave can befuddle me, at times. But this recipe, is a no brainer. It's quick, easy and bone-fide delicious.

On to other news, the countdown to the Syfy Channel debut of Metal Hurlant Chronicles is down to just over two weeks. April 14, at 8:00PM, and it's on. Tell me you're not blowing your biscuits over that. I mean really. I cannot wait!

In the same vein, the Americanized magazine inspired by Metal Hurlant is still alive and well. You to can get Heavy Metal magazine, in online version or delivered to your door. Why not check out the art. It seems they're emphasizing the wild comics rather than just the art, so it's kind of cool.

Something else I've stumbled upon is KR Animations UK, who is a Flash animator who has created some amazing Flash animated games, in record time. He also offers tutorials, as well as some amazing finished products of what he's done. It's pretty amazing. You should check it out.

Yes, it appears to final be rolling into Spring, and how could I be any more pleased with that. The Winter months were long, and difficult. I sustained a minor injury to my left hand from all the shoveling I had to do. But don't worry about me, I'm right handed, and that hand is still fine.

As many people may know, I write articles on Squidoo. And I most recently decided to take up the Squidoo challenge. Basically, the Squidoo challenge, was a number of steps laid out by an entrepreneurial young man, named Marc Guberti, who'd like to encourage strong writing and quality articles on Squidoo.

Marc is encouraging Squidoo participants to strengthen the site, and help the site get more hits on Google searches. His steps are incredibly well thought out, including being active on Squidoo, and liking and commenting on the articles of others. His other two steps include writing two quality articles a week, and updating three older articles per week. Each of these steps makes a great deal of sense, and will hopefully bring up the hit-counter on Squidoo. However, the overall challenge isn't to just increase the hit-counter, but create an environment, where internet searchers cannot avoid Squidoo, by offering better and more quality content.

Boneworld Logo -- Sword 6

Along with that, I've just finished my first week of doing this, by perusing the site for my favorite articles, and making sure I leave my own personal mark on them to let the writers know what I liked and why. I also made sure to promote any that really struck me on my very own Facebook page.

I went ahead and updated three of my old articles, and added two new ones, that I believe to be of fairly strong quality. I added a review called Mass Effect, and Almost All Lost, which is a review of the Mass Effect animated film. Please check it out if your a fan of animated films or of the Mass Effect games.

How To Draw Breeds Of Cats

I also added another How-To Draw article, called How To Draw Breeds Of Cats. It shows the step-by-step process of drawing a domestic house cat, as well as a Persian cat. Right now, it's only those two, but I'll be adding more as I go.

With all that going on, I've had precious little time for anything else. However, I am keeping a close eye on the count down to Metal Hurlant Chronicles on Syfy Channel. In case you haven't heard, the heavy metal inspired magazine, Metal Hurlant, has inspired a TV series, that up until now has only been aired in France. However, on April 14, 2014, at 8:00PM, the episodes will begin to air on Syfy Channel for a much larger audience. The first night will air two episodes, and each following Monday will see two more, until all 12-episodes have aired. I am so excited!

On that note, I've stumbled across an indie TV show, that I'm enjoying, called Heroes Of the North. I haven't seen many episodes, but what I can tell is, it's a super hero program of specifically Canadien style heroes. Each hero seems to be inspired by something specifically Canadien. One is named The Canadien, one is named Fleur-de-Lys, and one is named Nordik. You get the idea. It's a low budget indie TV show, with poor acting, dialog, and resources. But the shows I've seen are pretty cool. There's adult content and language, and the skin-tight body suits of the heroes doesn't hurt, either.

You can watch Heroes Of the North, on their own website heroesofthenorth.com, or on BlackFlag TV. I believe the episodes are aired on Black Flag every day. And Black Flag now has a Roku channel, if you have a Roku.

Sunday, March 9, 2014

If you were going to take a crack at drawing a face, where would you begin?

WRONG!!!

You should start at my latest Squidoo article, A Comprehensive Guide To Drawing the Head, which outlines all different variations of drawing the head, including turns, expressions, head tilts, a number of resources, and Preston Blair's phonemes series.

So, there you have it. But, if you just want the quick and dirty. Here are all the images I used.

Saturday, March 1, 2014

I'm talking crazy snow. My arms have been exhausted from shoveling--probably because I'm so out of shape, and all. These string beans can't move mountains. They were designed for more delicate work.

Anyway, aside from all that, I've been very busy. I've had a few set backs, but for the most part, things have been going good.

If you're gearing up for Saint Paddy's Day, as I know you are, I pounded out a great How To Draw a Leprechaun article, over at Squidoo. Click the link to check it out. If you like that, there's also shirts for sale, over at Boneworld's Zazzle Store, that you can check out, featuring the drunken leprechaun. Click the links below to check them out.

Most people who've read my articles should note that I'm a big fan of anime, and I've written several articles reviewing anime movies, as well as discussing anime topics in depth. However, the truth is, I've always been more of a fan of American animation and comics. I wouldn't say I'm any kind of expert on the subject matter, but I am very interested in it. And because of that, when the option to review a super hero animation came up, I jumped on it.

Along the same lines of my American animation and comics, is Heavy Metal. The movie, I mean, that was sort of a skit based drug induced science fiction film. There were two movies, Heavy Metal and Heavy Metal 2000, and it kind of ended there. The magazine it was based off of discontinued.

However, in France, where the magazine originated, being called Metal Hurlant Chronicles, they've created a new series of shows based upon the magazine, with the same name. It's again a skit based series of twelve episodes. Many people are mildly aware that this show was created, and that it was originally only available in France, but that has all changed, as Syfy channel has bought it, and will air the episodes in April. Check out the full story on Coming Soon and ScienceFiction.com. This is a great day for anyone who was a fan of the original movies and magazine.

Boneworld on Zazzle

About Me

After years of being a software engineer who felt he had a story tucked deep inside to tell, but no medium to tell it with, I've finally found some way to express it. Art. I draw almost every day, now, and I'm getting better all the time, and just loving every minute of it.

I'm most comfortable with paper and pencil, but I've taken to some software like Inkscape and Gimp. But the truth is, I have a goal in mind that one day I'll have the skill set to actually develop a full animation. I don't have near enough skill at the moment, and the story I have in mind is just in the form of rough sketches and notes at the moment, but some day I hope to have something more substantial.

For now, though, I'm enjoying the ride, and just taking it for what it is. I have no aspirations of making it a career or getting rich. It's just a hobby to keep my creativity alive, and I'm loving it.